Which to use
“verschieden” is an adjective and “verschulden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,741
- “verschieden” frequency rank
- #19,758
- “verschulden” frequency rank
- 26499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verschieden | verschulden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht gleich, andere Eigenschaften habend | etwas durch eigene Schuld verursachen, hervorrufen |
Where the eye mixes verschieden and verschulden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verschieden (CVCCCCVVCVC) and verschulden (CVCCCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses verschieden with verschulden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verschieden is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːdn̩] while verschulden is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʊldn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verschieden is recorded at frequency rank #6,741, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːdn̩]. verschulden is at rank #19,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃʊldn̩].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 26499, this pair ranks #1,817,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verschieden vs verschulden
Shared letters: cdehnrsv. Private to "verschieden": i. Private to "verschulden": lu.
"verschieden" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC · "verschulden" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verschieden ← evrschieden · vercshieden · verrschieden · verscchieden · verscheiden · verschhieden · verschideen · verschiedden
- verschulden ← evrschulden · vercshulden · verrschulden · verscchulden · verschhulden · verschluden · verschudlen · verschuldden
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verschieden" and "verschulden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verschieden" or "verschulden" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verschieden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verschulden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verschieden" and "verschulden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschulden vs Verschuldung". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,817,113 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.